OSTEOPATHY

Early day motion 1360, tabled 21 April 2008 by Kelvin Hopkins (Labour). Signed by 49 members.

That this House congratulates the osteopathic profession on its 10 year anniversary of professional regulation; welcomes the report Working for a Safer Tomorrow carried out by Dame Carol Black; notes the report's conclusions that 175 million working days were lost to the economy in 2006 due to ill health, costing the UK economy between £103 billion and £129 billion, taking into account benefits, health care, taxes foregone, lost production, sickness absence and informal care; further notes that one in every eight people taking time off work due to illness or injury has a musculoskeletal condition; endorses the Fit to Work strategy recommendation that different forms of healthcare currently provided by the private sector could be provided by the NHS; welcomes the Fit to Work strategy's potential projected savings to the NHS of £130 million; notes the Society for Occupational Medicine's estimate that an additional 1,800 health specialists will be required to meet the report's proposals; recognises that there are over 4,000 registered osteopaths in the UK carrying out over seven million treatments per year; and urges the Government to include osteopathy as part of the Fit to Work strategy.

Signatures by party: Labour 30, DUP 6, Liberal Democrat 5, Independent 3, Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, Conservative 2.